ノる ( = noru) to go along with a happy mood, to join in someone’s cheerful mood, to respond to someone’s joke or gags

As many other slang words, we usually write these in katakana.

The kanji for the verb ノる ( = noru) was originally,

乗る( = noru) which means to ride, to board, to get on

This kanji is usually used to ride a vehicle. :

Ex. 車に乗る = kuruma ni noru = to ride a car, to get in a car

Ex. 自転車に乗る = jitensha ni noru = to ride a bike

But you can use it when someone is going along with “the beat”, “the groove” or “mood” as well.

☆ ビートに乗って踊る

= biito ni notte odoru

= to dance to the beat

☆ リズムに乗って体を揺らす

= rizumu ni notte karada wo yurasu

= to sway one’s body to the rhythm

☆ 音楽に乗る

= ongaku ni noru

= to sway to the music

☆ 調子に乗る

= chōshi ni noru

= to get carried away, to go into gear

☆ 気乗りする
＝kinori suru

or 気が乗る

= ki ga noru

= to get excited about something, to warm up, to take an interest

☆ 気乗りがしない

= kinori ga shinai

or 気が乗らない

= ki ga noranai

= to be hesitant, to do something half-heartedly, to not to get into st

Now back to the word, ノる ( = noru)

negative form

ノらない ( = noranai)

noun form

ノリ = nori

ノリがいい

= nori ga ii

= upbeat, to instantly tune into the happy mood around you, to get excited, to join in someone’s jokes

ノリが悪い

= nori ga warui

= low key attitude, not enthusiastic, not go along with the happy mood around you, not to get into something easily, party pooper.

When do we use ノリ ( = nori) or ノる ( = noru)?

1) You can describe a type of upbeat music ♪ as

ノリのいい音楽 ( = nori no ii ongaku), upbeat, groovy music that makes people get into the swing or feel like dancing.

Ex. この曲、ノリがいいね！

= Kono kyoku nori ga iine!

= This song is upbeat! / This song is fun (and makes us get into move our feet.)

2) When you describe someone who is hyped-up, get into something, or very excited about something,

The emphasizing adjective is,

ノリノリ= norinori = hyped-up

You can describe people who get extremely excited or participate in some fun activities enthusiastically. (Usually at a party or a concert.)

Ex. 昨日、マギー先生、コンサートでノリノリだったね。

= Kinō Maggie sensei , konnsaato de norinori dattane.

= Maggie Sensei was very hyped up in the concert yesterday.

Ex. 「昨日のライブ、みんなチョーノリノリだったよ！」

= Kinō no raibu minna chou norinori dattayo.

= Everybody got so hyped up at the live concert yesterday.

Ex. 彼は、一人ノリノリで踊っていた。

= Kare wa hitori norinori de odotte ita.

= He was dancing crazy all by himself.

Let’s look at the picture above,

Maggie Sensei says,

「みんな、ノってる？」*

= Minna notteru?

= Are we all having fun? / Are you ready to rock?

*「みんな、ノってるかい？」

= Minna, Notteru kai?

= Are we all having fun? / Are you ready to rock?

is a cliché line that is usually used in a rock or pop music concert. The vocalist shouts out this line in the middle of the concert.

Note : かい ( = kai) ending is for a question and a male speech.

Ex. 覚えている？ ( = Oboete iru) Do you remember?

覚えているかい？ ( = Oboete irukai?)

4) to describe someone who can interact with people in a funny way or someone who responds to someone’s jokes or gags quickly, or people who can adjust to the happy mood around them and go along with the jokes easily or is willing to participate some fun (or sometimes crazy) activities.

Ex. 彼はノリがいいね。

= Kare wa nori ga iine.

= He is funny / He can respond quickly. / He is quick witted./ He rocks!

Ex. 今日のお客さんはノリがいい。

= kyō no okyaku san wa nori ga ii.

= The audience’s response is great today.(It means they laugh a lot responding the gags or jokes.)

The audience was really into our performance/music.

Ex. あいつはノリがいいから飲み会に呼ぶと場が盛り上がる。

= Aitsu wa nori ga iikara nomikai ni yobu to ba ga moriagaru.

= He (That guy) is the life of the party so if we invite him to our drinking session, he cheers up the atmosphere.

Note : あいつ ( = aitsu) is a derogatory term to indicate a third person but sometimes it is used in a friendly manner and just means “he” (or “she“)

So usually ノリ ( = nori) or ノる ( = noru) is used for some fun situations or to describe music with a beat but there are some cases you can use for other activities.

5) When someone is motivated to do something, to be into the groove, to get into a gear.

Ex. 試験勉強ノらないから遊びに行こうよ！

= Shiken benkyō noranai kara asobini ikō yo!

= I don’t feel like studying for the exam so let’s go out!

Ex. 朝から仕事ノってるね。

= Asa kara shigoto notterune.

= You have been working very efficiently since the morning.

6) When you say 軽いノリ ( = karui nori) , it implies you are not intended to do something seriously

39 Comments

Hi, Maggie. So, I was hearing a song (Summer Mermaid, by Misako Uno) and this comes out: どうぞ はじめて
Sノリ王子と
シュワシュワ 出逢いに(ラブ)乾杯
Could you, if possible, tell me what means Sノリ王子と, i found this tricky and confuse. Thank you in advance.

I am sorry. I wish I could help you but I have no idea.
“S” could be an initial of her prince and follows のり as a part of his name. In other word, there is no such a word, Sノリ王子 in Japanese. It is a coined word.

It’s good for you to study Japanese everyday.
As for hearing, besides all the language course listening materials, you can use any Japanese videos using youtube or somehting. Find a drama, anime or anything you like. Some of them have subtitles.
Pick any scene and focus on hearing what they are talking about even just 30 seconds everyday. Try to write down every single word that you hear and check it with the subtitles.
NHK also offers やさしい日本語(I once in a while retweet their tweet) They read a news along the text and you can check the vocabulary as well.

Hello una,
先生 will be back soon, so I will answer your question instead.

ノリ気（乗り気） means “interest; eagerness; enthusiasm” and じゃなかった is its negation in the past. Therefore the speaker wasn’t in the mood for doing something, but he/she (probably) eventually did it. のに expresses feelings like 不平・不満・恨み・非難.

EX) 試験勉強をすることに全く乗り気ではなかったのにな～ (=Though I totally didn’t feel like learning for the exam / Though I really wasn’t thrilled with learning for the exam)

hello!
thank you for the wonderful lesson- this is so useful.!
i saw a video recently where an idol used this expression
今日のメイク乗り悪いんですけど。。
i think is what she said, so was she saying
“i wasn’t so excited about today’s makeup but….”
(that would make sense w the rest of the video)
?

also you wrote
みんな、ノってる？
could one also write
みんな、ノっている？
without changing the meaning? is the first one just more slangy?
Thank you!

Hello, WATA!!
Ah, OK, メイクのノリがいい／悪い is different from ノリがいい／悪い.
化粧（けしょう）／メイクのノリがいい means make-up goes on smoothly. When you have a nice smooth skin condition, your skin absorbs all the make up cream, lotion, foundation, powder etc. well and you look good after wearing the make-up.

As for your second question,
ノッてる = ノっている
We often omit ”い” in casual Japanese.

@Haru
どういたしまして。たくさん直しましたがよかったら、間違ったところをメモしておいてね。必（かなら）ず上達（じょうたつ）しますよ。
（I am not sure if you want me to correct this comment as well but…I will do that anyway to help your Japanese….
間違えたがあったですね。→間違えがありましたね。
直ったをありがとう→直してくれてありがとう。
マギー先生がいいね、たすけられました。→マギー先生、てつだってくれてありがとう。
お会いできた→お会いできて）
私もHaruさんと知り合えてうれしいですよ。これからもよろしくね！